August 2004

The Del McCoury Band tops the list of nominees for the 15th annual International Bluegrass Music Awards, set for Oct. 7 at the Kentucky Center in Louisville, Ky. The awards show, hosted by Alison Krauss and Dan Tyminski, is the centerpiece of the International Bluegrass Music Association’s (IBMA) annual World of Bluegrass Trade Show and Fan Fest, which runs Oct. 4-10.

The Del McCoury Band, eight-time winners of the award for entertainer of the year, have 12 nominations this year, including entertainer, vocal group, instrumental group and album of the year for “It’s Just the Night.” McCoury earned an individual nod in the male vocalist category, and other band members received individual nominations on their respective instruments: Rob McCoury, banjo; Mike Bub, bass; Jason Carter, fiddle; and Ronnie McCoury, mandolin.

Krauss & Union Station earned nine nominations, including entertainer of the year, instrumental group, vocal group and female vocalist of the year for Krauss. Blue Highway earned seven nominations. Other multiple nominees include Rhonda Vincent & the Rage, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Mountain Heart and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver.

This year’s Hall of Honor inductees are Curly Seckler and Bill Vernon. Distinguished Achievement Awards will be presented to Moses “Mo” Asch, Kirk & Becky Brandenberger, Tom T. & Dixie Hall, Jimmie Skinner and Art Stamper.

The winners are voted on by the professional membership of the IBMA. This year marks the last year in Louisville before the IBMA’s World of Bluegrass event moves to Nashville in 2005. The awards will be broadcast to more than 300 U.S. markets and 14 foreign networks.

Source billboard.com.

Reggae fans will have reason to celebrate Sept. 28, as Island/Tuff Gong/UME reissues Bob Marley & the Wailers’ classic 1973 album “Burnin'” as a two-CD package including a previously unreleased concert recording from that year.

The first disc of “Burnin’ — Deluxe Edition” will feature the original album (including such hits as “I Shot the Sheriff,” “Burnin’ and Lootin’,” “Small Axe” and “Put It On”), as well as five bonus tracks: an alternate take and a single version of “Get Up, Stand Up”; the B-side “Reincarnated Soul”; and “No Sympathy” and “The Oppressed Song,” both of which were released for the first time on Island/Tuff Gong/UME’s 2001 digitally remastered version of “Burnin’.”

Disc two of the set features a 12-song Wailers concert recorded Nov. 23, 1973, at England’s Leeds Polytechnic. Founding member Bunny Wailer had already left the group by that point, but the show features Marley and Peter Tosh, who would also soon take leave of the pioneering reggae band.

The show includes performances of “Duppy Conqueror,” “Slave Driver,” “No More Trouble,” “Kinky Reggae,” “Stir It Up,” the rarity “You Can’t Blame the Youth” and a 13-minute version of “Lively Up Yourself.”

“Burnin'” joins previously issued Deluxe Editions of the Marley albums “Catch a Fire,” “Exodus,” “Rastaman Vibration” and the greatest-hits set “Legend.”

Source billboard.com.

Sheryl Crow, Jack Johnson and Crosby, Stills and Nash have joined the Vote for Change Tour. They’ll make guest appearances on the Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Keb’ Mo’ bill. The tour, which will travel through key “swing states” the month before the presidential election, has expanded to Arizona and Washington.
Johnson and Crosby, Stills and Nash will play a just-announced Phoenix show on September 29th, while Crow will perform at the previously scheduled Jacksonville, Florida, show on October 8th. Browne, Raitt and Keb’ Mo’ have also scheduled a Seattle show for September 27th.

For additional show and ticket information, go to moveonpac.org.

Jackson Browne/Bonnie Raitt/Keb’ Mo’ tour dates:

9/27: Seattle, WA, McGraw Hall (on sale 8/20)
9/29: Phoenix, AZ, (guests Jack Johnson, Crosby, Stills and Nash) Cricket Pavilion (on sale TBA)
10/1: Erie, PA, Warner Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/2: Cincinnati, OH, Taft Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/3: East Lansing, MI, Warton Center (on sale 8/21)
10/5: Kansas City, MO, Midland Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/6: Des Moines, IA, (no Jackson Browne; guest TBA) Des Moines Civic Center (on sale 8/21)
10/8: Jacksonville, FL, (no Jackson Browne; guest Sheryl Crow), Moran Theater (on sale 8/21)

Pearl Jam/Death Cab for Cutie tour dates:

10/1: Reading, OH, Sovereign Center (on sale 8/21)
10/2: Toledo, OH, Sports Arena (on sale 8/21)
10/3: Grand Rapids, MI, Delta Plex (on sale 8/21)
10/5: St. Louis, MO, Fox Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/6: Asheville, NC, Civic Center (on sale 8/21)
10/7: Kissimmee, FL, Silver Spurs Arena (on sale 8/21)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band/R.E.M./Bright Eyes tour dates:

10/1: Philadelphia, PA, Wachovia Arena (on sale 8/21)
10/2: Cleveland, OH, Gund Arena (on sale 8/21)
10/3: Detroit, MI, Cobo Arena (on sale 8/21)
10/5: St. Paul, MN, Xcel Energy Center (on sale 8/21)
10/8: Orlando, FL (no Bright Eyes), TD Waterhouse (on sale 8/21)

Dave Matthews Band/Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals/Jurassic 5/My Morning Jacket tour dates:

10/1: State College, PA, Bryce Jordan (on sale 9/2)
10/2: Dayton, OH, Nutter Center (on sale 8/28)
10/3: Detroit, MI, Palace of Auburn Hills (on sale 8/28)
10/5: Madison, WI, Kohl Center (on sale 9/3)
10/6: Ames, IA, Hilton Coliseum (on sale 8/28)
10/8: Gainesville, FL,(no My Morning Jacket) O’Connell Center (on sale 8/28)

Dixie Chicks/James Taylor tour dates:

10/1: Pittsburgh, PA, Heinz Hall (on sale 8/21)
10/2: Cleveland, OH, State Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/3: Detroit, MI, Fox Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/5: Iowa City, IA, Hancher Auditorium (on sale 8/21)
10/6: St. Louis, MO, Fox Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/8: Clearwater, FL, Ruth Eckerd Hall (on sale 8/21)

John Mellencamp/Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds tour dates:

10/1: Wilkes-Barre, PA, FM Kirby Center (on sale 8/21)
10/2: Cincinnati, OH, PromoWest Pavilion (on sale 8/21)
10/3: Kalamazoo, MI, Wings Stadium (on sale 8/21)
10/5: Milwaukee, WI, Riverside Theater (on sale 8/21)
10/8: Miami, FL, Jackie Gleason Theater (on sale 8/21)

Source rollingstone.com.

It’s time to get registered, it’s time to vote,” says Dead guitarist Bob Weir. “If you ever want to vote again, do it now. I’m not telling people who to vote for. I think they can figure it out. But I will say this: If every Deadhead in the state of Florida had voted in the last election, it’d be a very different world right now.”
Never known for mixing their music with politics, the Dead — the abbreviated name for the post-Jerry Garcia incarnation of the Grateful Dead — have taken up a cause: removing George Bush from office. The group has even been playing “Johnny B. Goode,” the Kerry campaign theme song, during shows. According to Weir, the Dead’s move into political activism came from a sense of urgency.

“It occurs to me and the rest of the guys that this may be our last meaningful election,” Weir says. “If we continue to drift the way we’re drifting, the United States will become a democracy in name only. Instead of government of the people, by the people and for the people, we’ll have government of the people, by the elite and for the elite, and the people will come secondarily.”

The Dead kicked off their summer-long Wave That Flag Tour at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Tennessee on June 12th, and it ends Thursday in Atlanta. The outing is the latest step in a revitalization of the band, which reunited in 2003 around the core of Weir, bassist Phil Lesh and drummers Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart. They streamlined their organization, cutting the employee roster in half and outsourcing merchandising and ticketing operations.

This is their first tour with a three-guitar lineup that includes new addition Warren Haynes. According to Weir, differences among band members have largely been resolved. “Going into this, I was thinking maybe we were gonna need a traffic cop,” says Weir. “But everybody’s listening to everyone else, and Warren has made us a little more muscular.”

The tour hasn’t been smooth sailing. In June, the Dead sold out only three of five nights at Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheater, and they played to half-empty houses in Phoenix and Salt Lake City. But Weir says the crowds have been enthusiastic — and young. “There are kids up front who don’t mind the elbows,” he says. “A few rows back, they get a few years older.”

The group will celebrate its fortieth anniversary in 2005 and plans to launch a major U.S. tour next year. Rhino Records will release several studio reissues and rare live material. Asked whether the band plans to put out new music, Weir says, “I don’t know if albums are the way it’s going to be done anymore. With downloading, the album may be an obsolete concept. If there’s some reason to put out a group of songs together, we may do that. We’ll be recording all along. We’ve written a few new songs already.”

Source rollingstone.com.

All five original members of NYC based jazz/funk/fusion band ulu will reunite for a performance at world-renowned jazz club, The Blue Note, in Greenwich Village on September 10, 2004.

The last time all five original members performed together was November 19, 1999 at the Wetlands Preserve. This show was recorded and titled